Twisted Fate
by AnimeTrashPile
Summary: The Butterfly Effect is one that he was all too familiar with. One small incident had torn his family away from him and dropped him into the depths, forcing him to become the Symbol of Evil. However, what would happen if that one, small incident had never occurred? Maybe, just maybe, Tenko Shimura can become the hero that he had always dreamed of being. Spoilers: Shigaraki's Past


Chapter 1 – The Untrodden Path

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"No-one came to save you, huh?" Those were the words that I heard, sitting alone under the bridge. The sounds that had filled my ears had all gone silent as the voice spoke, as if the whole world stopped just so they could speak. I could no longer hear the cars driving overhead, the people bustling about, the hushed whispers of those who passed by me – pretending that I didn't exist. I lifted my gaze. A man stood there. Shadows were cast over his face, but I could barely make out his green eyes and black hair. His presence alone sent a shiver down my spine, but felt familiar in a way. It pulled me in. "It must have been hard, huh, Tenko Shimura." The pain lingered on my face, the dried blood drenching my hands. I remembered their faces clearly. I remembered how it spread up their arms – like broken glass. Blood stained the grass as remnants of their bodies were scattered about the garden. I hate them. I hate it all. "It's fine. I'm here for you." The man extended his hand towards me – beckoning me to take it. Deep in my heart, I know that I shouldn't take it. I should deny it. However, he drew me in. He cared enough to reach out when so many others hadn't.

How could I deny him?

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I woke up, gasping for air. I looked around the garden. I had knocked over the broom, and it had fallen on Mon-chan. She barked out in surprise and had taken off. I had been locked out again. Tears clouded my vision as I looked towards the sky. It was dark, meaning that I had missed dinner, again. A sliding door opened, and light footsteps made their way towards me. Soft hands placed themselves on my cheeks and tilted my head upwards. I found myself looking into Mommy's red eyes. "Okaasan…" She pulled me into a hug before standing up. "Your allergies are flaring up again, let's get you inside so we can fix you up, hmm?" Her hand enveloped mine as she led me back into the house. We entered an empty living room. 'I guess everyone went to bed already.' My mother gently pressed on my shoulder and I took a seat on the floor. She gave me a small smile before pacing about, her cyan locks bouncing with every step she took. She opened the ointment she had found and kneeled in front of me. She placed a finger under my chin and I lifted my face. "Close you eyes, honey." I did so and felt her hands work themselves over my skin. She rubbed along my chin and over my eyes, ending by rubbing the last bit onto my nose. It itched behind my ears, so I brought my finger up and started dragging it along to try and relieve myself. "Now, now, no more scratching, okay?" Mommy gently chided. "But it itches…" I whine. It's not going away. "It's unfortunate that we still don't know what you're allergic to…" "It only itches at home." We sat in silence for a few minutes. Mommy's eyes were dimmed slightly. She looked towards me and she spoke, "Hey Tenko…" I lifted my gaze properly as she continued. "Do you still… want to be a hero?" My reply is simple. "Yeah. Mik-kun usually always leaves me out. Tomo-chan does too." I continued to scratch at my left eye, even if Mommy was trying to move my hands away. "I asked Mik-kun if we could play together, right? I asked him if he wanted to play Heroes with me, right? It was so fun. Then afterwards, he said, _"Ten-chan, you're just like All Might!" _He said it was because I'm nice, and played with him even when he left me out!" I had remembered my father's face when I had brought up heroes earlier. My eyes brimmed with tears as I threw my arms around Mommy. "Hey Okaasan, why doesn't Father let me!? Is it 'cause he hates me!? Is it 'cause I don't have a Quirk yet!?" I wailed into her chest. Her arms wrapped around me as she rubbed my back. "Of course your father doesn't hate you… it's just… he knows… just how hard being a hero is."

The next day had gone how I expected it to. Father was mad. Grandpa had brought me cookies. Grandma had sat me down and ruffled my hair. I had asked them the question that every kid in these times would ask their parents. One that would define their life. I had asked my family, "Can I become a Hero?" The words of a grown-up are absolute. That's why I wanted to hear it from them. All I wanted was that one, simple phrase, but the house that my father built… it continued to silently deny me.

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I was staring at a photo of two people in the park. A small boy and a woman who knelt down beside him. They were hugging each other. The little boy smiled widely, presenting the gap in his teeth. The woman wore a costume. The suit was black, with a large white cape. Her yellow gloves matched with her belt-buckle, her red cape hanging off her hips and brushing against her white boots. Her bright smile complimented the darkness of her hair. "It's a secret! This person is apparently our Obaasan! She was a Hero!" I couldn't believe it. A Hero… in our family! My eyes teared as I turned to my sister. "Hana-chan, why are you showing me…" Hana turned to me, her twin pigtails swinging alongside her head. "Even though Dad says all those mean things to you, it'll be alright, 'cause I'll always be cheering you on, Tenko!" My face heated up as my lip wobbled. Was she really going to say…? "Let's keep it a secret from Dad and become Hero Siblings!" My watery eyes looked back at the photo of our Grandmother, a wide smile making it's way to my face. "Yeah!"

Time had gone by and I was playing with Mon-chan this afternoon. It was blisteringly hot and humid, so we had been playing fetch to pass the time. Mon-chan had dropped the saliva-coated ball (gross!) into my hand as she happily waited for me to throw it again. I scratched my cheek as I lifted the ball into the air. 'Grandma was a Hero! There was a Hero in our family!' I threw the ball as Mon-chan raced after it, barking all the way. "Hey Mon-chan! Now I feel like… I can handle whatever challenges may come my way!" Suddenly, my left hand pained. The ball bounced off the floor as I stared at my hand in shock. "TENKO! YOU WENT INTO MY OFFICE, DIDN'T YOU!?" My father marched towards me with a terryfing look on his face. The post-rain moisture hanging in the air… "You saw, didn't you…!?" …pierced my irritated skin like needles. I looked past him into the house, where a crying Hana-chan was clinging onto Mommy. "WAAAAH! But Tenko… Tenko said he wanted to see it!" My heart sunk as my father raised his hand. Blood pooled in my mouth while Mon-chan barked loudly. "Koutaro-san!" Mommy yelled out from the doorway. Her words did not reach Father. "That person wasn't your grandmother. That was a demon who threw away her own children. Listen up. A Hero is nothing but…" Ojiisan, Obaasan… 'Help!' Okaasan… 'Don't just watch… please!' Hana-chan… 'Someone… save me!' "Someone who hurts their own family…" he seethed. 'Anyone!' "… for the sake of helping others!" He brought his hand towards my face, a crimson glow emitting from his palm. He clutched my face, and my head exploded with pain. This house… was one my father had built.

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My breath came out unevenly. Sobs wracked my body as I sat alone on the grass. The sun had gone down hours ago. "No… I hate this…" A fluffy body had dropped istelf beside me, the ball falling from their jaw. "Mon-chan… I… can't take it anymore… I just… hate everyone." I reached out to hug Mon-chan, but I stopped myself. I sigh as I lower my hands. "Tenko!" My eyes flittered to the house. Exiting from the sliding door… was Hana-chan. "I, um… I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean it." She nervously wrung her hands as she looked off to the side. "Even though I was the one who said it was our secret… I'm sorry." She looked down at me, before her eyes widened. "Hey! What's that?" She pointed at the ground to my side. "Huh?" I looked down at my left hand and took in the grey surrounding it. I lifted my hand and peered at what had happened. The ground underneath my hand had disappeared, and the surrounding grass had turned shades of brown and gray. 'What's going on?' Hana-chan lifted a hand to her mouth and gasped. "Tenko! It's your quirk!" The world seemed to slow down as those words left her mouth. "My quirk…?" I reached out to Mon-chan's ball and picked it up. Immediately, lines wrapped their way around the ball, looking similar to broken glass. In a second or two, the ball crumpled to dust, and floated away on the evening breeze. "I have a quirk…" Hana-chan was bouncing up and down in excitement, her plain, pink dress swishing back and forth. "This is it Tenko! You can become a hero!" I don't know when I started crying. She held held her arm out towards me. "Come on, our future as Hero Siblings starts now!" I held my arm out and she grasped on to my forearm. I grasped on to hers. She screamed out in agony and I immediately withdrew my hand. Blood oozed from where my hand made contact and skin flaked away. Panicked, she clasped her other hand over the bleeding area and squeezed her eyes shut. "Wait! Don't..!" Before I could pull her arm away, her hand radiated a fuschia light. I watched as her arm slowly stopped bleeding and the skin started to patch itself together. "Woah…" I breathed out, mesmerised. Hana-chan's eyes were widened, also staring in wonder at her arm. "Quirk!" I yelled out. "That's so cool!" Hana-chan yelled. She grabbed my arm and yanked me towards the house.

We had run straight into Mommy, who had finally snuck out to come fetch me from outside. She nearly had a heart-attack when she saw Hana-chan's blood-soaked arm, but calmed down when the situation was explained to her. Mommy hugged us both (and I made sure my hands were far away), as she cried tears of joy. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Father staring at us from the top of the stairs. He huffed and entered his room, closing the door slowly. Mommy had bathed us (Hana-chan and I played Splashies in the bath), and then sent us off to bed. My hands had been covered in separate pieces of toilet-paper, for safety reasons, and I had gotten under the softness of my blankets. I heard a door open opposite my room and hushed conversation inside. It sounded like Mommy and Hana-chan's voices. After a few minutes, the door had closed and footsteps approached my room. The door slowly creaked open and my mom's crimson eyes peered into the room. "Are you awake, Tenko?" she whispered. I sat up slightly as Mommy sat down beside me. "How's my little Hero doing?" I giggled a little as she ruffled my hair. "We're going to a Quirk Specialist tomorrow to find out what your Quirk is. Isn't that exciting?" I nodded rapidly. I knew very little of my Quirk. If I was going to become a Hero, I would need to know everything about my Quirk. 'Become a Hero…' My head whipped upwards, meeting Mommy's gaze. She had that soft smile on her face, knowing exactly what I wanted to ask her. That one phrase that I had wanted to hear:

"Yes, Tenko, you can be a Hero…" I felt it spark. The fire that had quietly been snuffed out by my family, the dying embers, had ignited: Hope. I broke out into a smile and shed a few tears. Finally, she had said it. She brought her face down and layed a kiss on my forehead. "Goodnight, my little Hero." With that, she had gotten up and walked out the room, softly closing the door behind her.

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**? POV**

"Looking back now, it had all started on that night. My name is Tenko Shimura, and this is the story of how I became the world's Greatest Hero." I held on to the Recorder, my most prized possesion. I removed the VHS-Style Cartridge and placed in the next Cartridge in the set. It read: 'Insert Intense Training Montage.' I hit the play button, and the Recorder whirred to life.

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**That's a Wrap! Credits to Tokoyumi on Tumblr for the Cover Image.**

**This FanFic was born from an idea I had after reading through one of the more recent Manga Chapters. I thought, "What if Shigaraki actually found a way to be a hero?" I see a lot of FanFics where Izuku becomes a Villain, but I haven't seen any where Shigaraki becomes a Hero, so I created this FanFic. I hope you guys enjoy, and I'll see you in the next chapter.**

** ~AnimeTrashPile**


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